Avatar, the Modern Bender
by Aria124
Summary: Technology has advanced to a modern era and bending is as it always was. But a new avatar hasn't presented themselves. This story is through the perrspective of a young idealistic water bender. i hope you enjoy. (story-line takes place after Kora)
1. And it Begins Again

This_ is my first fan-fiction. I'm excited to be writing and am hoping to hone my story bending skills through constructive criticism and the mas of aspiring writers here in the wonderful world of fan-fiction. I really do hope you all enjoy my stories and review so i may better myself as a writer. That being said i need to go on the spiel of "I don't own the series of AVATAR, no mater how awesome that would be. The characters in this story, however, are original however they will definitely reference the original characters." Thank you for reading._

_-Aria142_

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I sat on my back porch staring at the baby blue sky. My Siberian beardog, Kota, was chasing his tail around in the yard. Enjoying the snow while it lasted. living in the bi-polar climate we did he would only have the snow for a couple of weeks after the spring solstice. Then he would have to endure being shaved for the hot summer sun.

**"Aria!"** my mother called **"Are you practicing your water bending?!" **

I was supposed to be practicing for some stupid prep school for water-benders only. I thought it was dumb and old fashioned. Segregating benders like that. I didn't think it was right, it was as if they where placing themselves above all the other benders. Above all the non-benders. No body should ever be looked down upon.

I sighed. "Yes mom, of course i'm practicing." I was acting very detached. Good. I hoped she could tell I was lying.

"You better be! You need to get into this school, hopefully on scholarship! it's supposed to be the best school for water-bending since the water tribes left the poles!" I truthfully didn't care. There where still better bending academies that where mixed elements.

"Tell me again whats wrong with four nations academy?" i asked through the sliding glass door.

My mother sighed and opened the door so she wouldn't have to shout to be heard. "I know how you feel about this Aria." she said as she sat next to me "But our family hasn't had a water bender skilled in combat and healing since your great grandmother. She was one of the first water benders to leave the pollses. and-" there she went. On her rant about how our she met a nice non-bender from the old royal fire nation line and decided to move here to hell in hand-basket bipolar weather patterns middle of the old earth kingdom plains here.

"I'll go to the stupid audition mom, but i' not showing off and i'm not going to try."

"Whatever Aria. At least you'll go. And you WILL do your best!"

"Whatever." I lied myself back into the snow, "I'm not going to get in though."

"Yes you will. Just wait and see!"

"Okay, do you have everything?" My mom asked me for the umpteenth time before our departure to my audition the to posh school interview.

I sighed "No mom. I don't. It's not like you haven't asked me this thousands of times today and didn't have me put everything I'd need together a week in advance-"

"It wasn't a week-"

"Oh yes it was!" I let out an exasperated sigh, "Lets just get this over with." I hoped in the truck, shoved my headphones into my ear and blasted my ipod's music the entire way there.

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_Thank you for reading. please review. again i own only my own original characters. nothing assosiated to the AVATAR series!_


	2. The Water-bending Academy

Chapter_ two already? Well... When creative juices are flowing best to keep them flowing rather then stop a train of thought. so here it is. chapter 2. And it seems that within chapters one and two I __**obviously **__bought the rights to Avatar from Nickelodeon and therefore own it... pffffft! Oh how I wish! But sadly thus shalt never happen. Maybe one day when I'm famous. In the meantime... Criticism is welcome, so long as it isn't with malevolent intentions._

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_Posh... And they have uniforms. Hell to the fucking no. I may not have the __**best**__ fashion sense but i am __**not**__ wearing a uniform! _

Okay... The uniforms weren't **that** bad... They where, actually, fairly cute compared to some I've seen. They where an ocean blue. The winter uniforms reminded me of what you'd expect to see in a text book for water tribe fashion about 200 years or so ago. So it was water tribe sheikh.

My mom, however, was too anxious to appreciate the view. "**Look out mom!" **i grabbed the trucks wheel and swerved us away from hitting another one of the obnoxious magpie-squirls that just seemed to have such a difficult time avoiding our truck. "Your going to kill us before we even reach the front door!"

"Sorry..."

I looked out the window and had to choke back laughter. The students where so worried about my mother's terrible driving that they where creating think ice barriers along the schools driveway so we didn't hit any of them!

"I'm not a bad driver!" my mother shouted. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. " Not a bad driver? you've hit three pigeon-rats, almost ran over someones pet poodle-skunk , and almost just hit your second magpie-squirrel in just the drive **here!**"

"Your exaggerating Aria."

"No I'm not. If anything i'm downplaying this. You really need to relax."

"I just want you to have a good future."

I sighed. "I know."

We parked and walked through the over-sized doors that where covered in classic artwork. The brochure did say that it gave one the impression of living back at the north pole. They weren't kidding. It really did look like what I had seen of the north pole. We entered and the interior looked like it was made of ice and snow. Scratch that, the walls where two inches thick of ice, the rest of the wall was probably drywall like my walls at home. I could ruin these walls easily. just melt them all into water... That would certainly make me ineligible to attend this overly polished private school. And give all these overly polished benders something to occupy their time with. But i chose against it. It may make me ineligible But it would also make it so that I'd have to pay a fine and likely have a delinquency record. I didn't want to do that.

We approached the deans office. "This is it. Don't be nervous Aria."

"I'm not."

"Just remember your forms, and don't do anything we didn't go over-"

"Bye mom!" I opened the door and hoped to hell that I'd completely blow this.

"Aria?" The stuffy old dean addressed me informally.

"Yes?" He obviously wanted this over as much as i did.

"Your a water bender?"

...Did he seriously just ask that. Fuck this shit, at least where I want to go the teachers at least ACTED like they had a brain. i decided to be sarcastic, but bubbly "NOPE! I'm an earth bender!"

I had to restrain myself. I would have died otherwise from the look that he got on his face. It looked like he had picked up a baby skunk-rabbit thinking it was a cat-rabbit and had gotten a nasty surprise. "Would you please demonstrate your ability."

I sooooo wanted to punch him in his sarky ass face. But i just smiled sweetly and asked "Yes sir." i said, biting my tongue. I was going to be a bitch and say "Do I get an opponent, or am I just supposed to act like the air offended me" but I didn't.

I started bending. I began with the water whip and just flowed my moves after that. acting as if I where dancing. I finished with a move that was originally a fire bending move called a flame roundhouse kick, but instead of fire, it was water. I bowed to him in a show that i had finished. The look on his face though was priceless, i could have sworn his jaw would drop right off of his smug face. It would have been comical if it wasn't an obvious display that i had passed with flying colours. Fuck. Well, at least I wiped that mighter-than-thou attitude off his smug face.

I stood, turned on my heel, and left without another word. If he was that desperate. He'd have to come to me.

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_again. i do not own the _Avatar series. _Thank you for reading. Please review. And i hope you will continue reading!_


	3. Academy students can't fight

I walked out of the 'interview' room into the waiting area where my mom was sitting. Her hair was hiding her face and she looked nervous. She was probably praying to the spirits for me to do well. I did well but i was just hoping that they disqualified me for using illegal moves or something technical like that... I hated bigoted schools like this, all the benders with their noses stuck up and thinking all the other benders where less than them. It reminded me of what the textbooks said about when we where all separate nations...

I sat next to my mom and she looked up at me.

"So, how'd you do baby?" she asked me. Her hands where shaking. something must have happened.

"I did fine mom. The instructors jaw almost fell off-"

"You didn't use those moves you learned from that fire bending kid did you?"

I sighed "I did, but it worked! Just like it had the time befo-"

"**_Aria_**! We agreed that you wouldn't pull any fast cards! Yo where to stick to the routine! the basics! This is the **_best_**water bending school outside of the poles." she let out an exasperated sigh. "We can't afford to move to one of the poles. what if they don't accept you because you wouldn't stick to the water bending forms?"

"Then, we will just have to enroll me into four nations academy, wont we? Their just as good if not, better."

"Their a **_mixed_****_school_**. They might pin you up against an earth bender! Just because May is going there doesn't mean you should to."

"My wanting to go to four nations has nothing to do with my friends and you know that. It does, however, have everything to do with that these bland one element schools need some variety. their being taught to use their bending without ever really seeing what the others have to offer them. Even if I do get accepted, I'm not going. I humored you by coming here, but i don't want to be a student."

She sighed and looked at her hands... They where still shaking. "Mom... What happened while I was in there? You never shake... Ever."

"Don't worry about it."

"Mom-"

I said don't worry about it."

The door to the exam room thing opened and crotchety man walked out. My mom sat up ram rod straight and stood...

"She has promise," the man began, "but I don't think she'll go anywhere here. She's to advanced for our curriculum. If you want a school like ours, go to one of the schools at the poles. But we can't accept her. I'm sorry." And he left out the door we had entered to get here... And was gone.

"Well it looks like we have no choice... but if they wouldn't accept you here they probably wont accept you anywhere but at the pole." I followed her as she walked out. I'd have been blind if i didn't notice the students who had obviously been eaves dropping. I looked at them and the leader of the group grabbed my shirt. He pulled me so close i could smell what he had for lunch. Most likely boiled sea-lion dog stew... Disgusting.

"Can I help you?" I asked him. He didn't release me.

"Yeah. I'm the best fighter this school has ever made. top of my class and they said you where _too advanced for us? _You probably think you're so much better than us. Well. If you think you have what it takes, follow me... fight me. That is if you aren't scared." He tried to dump me on the floor but i landed on my feet. I brushed myself off and looked up to see the punk and pose sauntering off toward the door to the outside.

"This wont take long. I'll meet you at the truck." I followed behind the arrogant ass.

"BE CAREFUL ARIA!" My mom shouted before going in the other direction to the truck.

I walked behind him. sizing him up from what i could see of him. he was wearing the schools uniform and moved like a newly groomed poodle-cat. He had a long black ponytail tied back in a blue leather tie. He was well-built. this was going to be fun, a challenge even.

When we exited the school I saw that we had come out into an ice garden that some students where attending to. I knew that for the rest of the valley it was summer... but it was cool here... I wonder how they kept it cool enough to have the ice here without it melting and without it being freezing out here.

Arrogant boy walked to the middle of the ice garden and then turned to me. He was pretty good-looking. Obviously full water tribe and very proud of it. his skin was darker than mine by a lot. he had a face that probably had girls all over him. Ocean blue eyes perfect lashes to frame them and perfect teeth... Too bad he didn't brush them after his last meal. some of his ponytail was falling out and had fallen across his face.

"So... Even with that pretty face you aren't a coward. That's good, let's hope that you can keep it from getting damaged. I like someone with a pretty face who can hold their ground." He smirked.

"Aw, I bet you tell all the girls that. Name's Aria. I find that it's only polite to give the person whose ass your going to kick your name first... Not that their guaranteed to remember it."

His friends all exchanged noises of "oooh, burn" and "ouch" I think I may have bruised his ego a bit. But, he just smirked.

"Tyler. And while most guys would think it's wrong to fight a girl... I don't think you really count." He exchanged high fives with his friends at that.

"Your right. You should probably tell your friends to stop sparring with you, that being the case." we had gathered quite crowed at that point and they where all muttering. "So, I thought you wanted to fight me. let's hope I don't permanently damage that pretty face of yours." I turned my back to him and walked a few meters to put some distance between us so we could have some fun.

The crowd started cheering. For Tyler, obviously. They didn't know me. I took a stance that none of them had ever seen. an earth bending stance, horse stance. The Guy... Tyler, just looked at me like i was from another planet.

"This should be easy, she isn't taking me seriously." At that he started with a water whip, I lifted my arm so it wrapped around my arm and then he tried to pull me. Mistake one, I bent the snow under his feet and drug him to me, mistake two, he tried to counter by digging his feet deeper into the snow. i relinquished the whip and he fell... hard. mistake three. he let his guard down and i gave him an ax-kick to the spine. He wouldn't be moving for the rest of the week.

"And _**that**_, ladies and gentlemen, is how you fight. Too bad he didn't have time to show me up." at that I decided to show off and use my bending to get across campus to my mom and the truck. So I bent myself a huge wave of snow and surfed to the truck. Those students will have learned never to underestimate and opponent... And... never challenge me.

"I take it your fight went well?" my mom asked as i opened the door and hopped in.

"Too easy. No wonder the old man told me that I was too good for this school. Kid couldn't even keep his balance." I smirked.

"Let's stop for food and ice-cream on our way home." And with that. We drove off and i hoped i was rid of that school for good... That is... As long as hey didn't think I should have a teaching job.


	4. sleeping in

Again. Don't own avatar or it's predecessors. Criticism is welcome. please rate and review.

-Aria124

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Me and my Mom ate our food and ice cream in silence. I didn't now what she was thinking and, I was hoping she wouldn't tell me. If she didn't tell me, I could still pretend she was glad I didn't get in, that I didn't surpass those students by so much that the student director denied my acceptance. That I easily beat the most prestigious student they had they easier than it would be to snap a toothpick. I could almost pretend she was proud. But only almost. After we had our food and ice cream we returned home and I proceeded with my afternoon rituals. I trained late into the night under the moon, practicing as much as I could. It was almost a full moon so i practiced blood bending on rats... I knew it was a forbidden art, but, if I was caught off guard by someone in a dark alley, or kidnapped, or worse... i refused to be helpless. I promised myself that, no mater how good i got, how tempting it was, i would _never_ use blood bending if i had any other option besides death. It was around two in the morning when i decided to call it a night. so, I went to bed, and slept.

"_**Aria! Mayuna's here to see**_**_ you_**_!"_ I heard my Mom yell... What was May doing here so early? I glanced at my clock. 12... pm...

"It's only noon... Wait... **Noon!?** Spirits be damned! I slept in! I jumped out of bed and ran to get dressed.

"**_Aria! Are you still asleep up there?!"_**

**_"No Mom!"_**I yelled and i shimmied into a pair of shorts. **_"Send her up!" _**I quickly pulled a shirt out of one of my dressers and shoved it on. I hoped i didn't look too hap-hazard as May opened my bedroom door.

"Aria. Your hair looks like an angry octolobster... did you just roll out of bed?"

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Maybe." she made a frustrated noise. "What? I was up all night training. I deserve to sleep in." I said.

"Speaking of training. How'd the entrance exam at that prep school go?"

"My audition thing? I... I impressed them-"

"Damnit! I was half hoping you'd blow it! you'd get along so well with the group over at four nations! Now I'm going to have to find another sparring partner! I thought you said you where going to throw it! I-"

"chill May! I said they where impressed not that they accepted me."

"... They didn't take you? **Are they** **_crazy_**?!You're the best water bender I've ever met! I'm going to go have a serious and violent talk with them."

That made me laugh. "May... That would be pretty redundant. Besides. They didn't accept me _because_ I'm so good. They had nothing to teach me. Hey, does four nations accept non-benders?"

"Of course. It's a public school hun. Why wouldn't they. The non benders just don't take bending classes. They do take fighting classes though. We have a mixed class. warriors, what they call non benders, and elementals, what they refer to benders as. It's a mandatory class to teach us benders humility and that, while we may have special abilities, non benders can beat us just as easily as us them."

"That's a relief. I'll be there so long as my mother doesn't try to ship me off to the south pole... or the north pole."

"Well that would suck. How would I kick your ass if you moved that far away?" despite her short stature of 162 cm, she was feisty. while I was 172cm tall. she was bulky and mostly muscle... And she was probably one of the only people who could literally kick my ass. Having been born and raised in the earth kingdom, she was an earth bender, and a damn good one too. I learned most of what i knew of earthbending forms and stances from her.

"Blondey, you couldn't kick my ass if i was really fighting."

"Riiiiiiiiight. keep telling yourself that. Just because you fight like the avatar doesn't mean that you have all the power. You can only bend water."

"True. But you can't either. You can only bend earth."

"Right... I'm only an earth bender. I'll never be anything more so..."

"We need to do the best with the hand we're dealt. Don't worry. We'll be the best at what we do."

I held my hand out for a high five. We high-fived and gripped each-others hands and released it.

"I wonder who the Avatar is. They're going to reveal who it is soon... I swear I can feel it in my bones... She'll be revealed soon."

"How do you know that? What makes you think it's a her this time anyway?" She asked me puzzled.

"I just do. Wouldn't it be awsome if _**I**_ where the avatar?"

"I'm pretty sure we'd have noticed if you where the avatar from how much you use the other element forms and diciplines in your bending. You'd have been bending the other elements by now."

"... I suppose you're right."

"Besides. Kora, the last Avatar, was a waterbender. this Avatar will be an earthbnder."

"... You have a point. Maybe your the Avatar."

"Nowayamitheavatar, notpossible, where'dyougetthatidea?"

"... May, when you talk that quick, not even the lemurs can understand you. Say that again, at a human speed this time."

She just gave me a look... I'm not sure what the look said... It was like she was hidding something without hiding it...Is she... No, She couldn't be. I dropped the thought.

"Nevermind. What's on our agenda for today?"

That snapped her out of it rather quickly. "Right. Well for starters we're going to brush out that mop, your going to put your shirt on the right direction so glittering skull isn't on your back, your going to find shorts or pants that match, put on a bra, and then we are going to go see that new park that's opened up down the road."

"...So it really is that obvious that i just crawled out of bed..."

"Aria... The sides of that shirt are shredded. If you where wearing a bra, I'd have seen it. put on your swimming suit. their's a pool there too. Get your shit together. I'll meet you in my satomobile." She then walked out the door and went downstairs. probably informing my mom of our plans.

I made myself presentable. put my swimsuit on underneath my clothes. changed my cargo pants that i had slipped into only minutes before, into a pair of black shorts. I still wore my skull shirt but i had mt swimming suit top on underneath it. i brushed my hair and went downstairs.

"Aria. You're eating before you leave, and don't give me any crap about it, you didn't eat much of a dinner your having breakfast. even if it is noon. And we're enrolling you in four nations first thing Monday morning."

"Alright mom!" I walked into the kitchen. Hardly having even heard what she had said. I grabbed two peices of bread, but some peanut butter on it, made a sandwich and called it breakfast.

I walked out to May in out in the driveway. She unlocked the passanger side door and I hopped in. I ate my sandwich as we drove.

"Do you really need to eat that right mow?"

"Hmmmm?" i swallowed the bite i had taken "Yeah... Sorry. I haven't been eating enough."

"You never eat enough. I'm half tempted to shove a nice, meaty sandwich down your throat."

"... I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and continue on my vegetarian rampage."

"It's weird. Your Mom is water tribe, your dad's fire nation. Biggest meat eaters ever. Yet your vegetarian... I don't get it."

i stuck my tongue out at her "You don't have to. I just do." i took a bite of my sandwich.

"I suppose. But it's just weird."

I just rolled my eyes and she ignored me and started singing to the radio. I just munched on my sandwich.

We drove for about ten minutes before we reached the park... pool... both...? whatever the hell they where going to call this place. anyway. We parked. got out, and went to the pool. It looked like they fireproofed all the things. swings, slides, everything. Makes sense being as this used to be a fire nation colony. and it looked like the place was also reinforced to protect against earth bending I guess... I didn't see too much of a point in that. not to mention that i could tear this place to shreds with my water bending. and some fancy metal wasn't going to help against the earth benders being as most of them could metal bend. I think the state went a bit overboard with this. Oh well. there was a pool. Pools have water. I wanted to swim and that's the first place me and May headed for.


End file.
